JP2000351395A - Control device for outboard motor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form an outboard motor in a compact manner, to improve operability of the mechanism of each of a throttle, a shift, and a limiter, and to ensure operation. SOLUTION: A throttle cam 37 to operate the throttle lever of a fuel feed device 15 is arranged in the rear of a fuel feed device 15, a throttle relay rotation member 38 is pivotally supported below the throttle cam 37, and the throttle cam 37 and the throttle relay rotation member 38 are coupled together through an interlocking member (39). A throttle device positioned in front of an outboard motor 1 and the throttle relay rotation member 38 are interconnected through input members (40 and 41). An input member is disposed below the fuel feed device 15. Further, a limiter mechanism 58 to regulate mutual operation between the throttle mechanism 36 and the shaft mechanism 47 is established as an annex at a shift mechanism 47 situated in front of an engine 2. The limiter mechanism 58 and the throttle relay rotation member 38 are interconnected through an interlocking member (60), and the interlocking member is disposed below a fuel feed device 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for an outboard motor for performing throttle operation and shift operation of an engine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, four-stroke engines have become the mainstream of outboard motors in place of two-stroke engines from the viewpoint of environmental protection. Like the two-cycle engine, the four-stroke engine is also mounted vertically so that the crankshaft stands upright, and its crankcase side is directed forward.

[0003] An intake manifold extending from a cylinder head on the rear side of the engine curves forward and is connected to a fuel supply device arranged on a side of a cylinder block or a crankcase. In the fuel supply device, an air-fuel mixture supply means such as a carburetor or an air amount regulator (throttle body) for the number of cylinders is connected by a connecting member, and an intake silencer is connected to a front portion thereof.

[0004] The mixture supply means is provided with a throttle mechanism. This throttle mechanism is a mechanism for remotely controlling a throttle lever provided on the air-fuel mixture supply means from a throttle device provided in front of the outboard motor via an input member such as an operation cable to control engine output. .

[0005] Due to the characteristics of a four-cycle engine, the engine speed increases even if the throttle opening is small. Therefore, a throttle cam is generally used to rotate the throttle lever. The interlocking ratio of the throttle lever is small, and the interlocking ratio of the throttle lever is set to increase as the opening of the throttle device increases.

In the four-cycle engine, unlike the two-cycle engine, the air-fuel mixture supply means of the fuel supply device is disposed relatively behind the engine, so that the above-described throttle cam is also disposed behind the engine. A throttle relay rotating member (to which an operation cable or the like is connected) for rotating the throttle cam is provided coaxially with the throttle cam, or the throttle relay rotating member is connected to a fuel supply device (air-fuel mixture supply means). ), The layout is provided in front of the throttle cam and connected to the throttle cam by an interlocking member such as a long throttle link.

[0007]

However, in the former case, the throttle relay turning member protrudes to the side of the fuel supply device in the latter case, and in the latter case, the interlocking member protrudes to the side of the fuel supply device. It is necessary to protrude largely to the side to avoid interference, which increases the lateral width of the engine part and necessitates a large outboard motor.
In particular, in the latter case, the long interlocking member must be bent in order to avoid the fuel supply device, which causes the interlocking member to bend or play, resulting in poor operability.

On the other hand, a shift mechanism for performing a shift operation of an outboard motor is generally installed in front of the engine, and a limiter mechanism for restricting mutual operation of the throttle mechanism and the shift mechanism is conventionally provided alongside the throttle mechanism. In the case of an outboard motor equipped with a two-cycle engine, since the throttle mechanism and the shift mechanism were close to each other, the movement of the shift mechanism could be reliably restricted by the limiter mechanism provided in addition to the throttle mechanism.

However, in the case of an outboard motor equipped with a four-cycle engine, the throttle mechanism is disposed behind the engine and has a distance from the shift mechanism. It was necessary to operate the shift mechanism via the link, and a long limiter link was easily bent by a strong force when the shift mechanism was operated to shift, and it was difficult to reliably perform shift control.

[0010] In addition, in an outboard motor equipped with a four-stroke engine, the intake silencer of the fuel supply device and the shift mechanism are installed at substantially the same position. Disassembly workability (maintenance) was poor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has been made to reduce the size of an outboard motor, improve the operability of each mechanism of a throttle, a shift, and a limiter and assure the operation thereof. It is an object of the present invention to provide an outboard motor control device that can improve the assemblability and disassembly workability of a shift mechanism and the like.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, an outboard motor control device according to the present invention is provided with a crankcase mounted vertically, as described in claim 1 of the appended claims. A fuel supply device is installed on the side of the four-stroke engine facing forward, and a throttle mechanism for operating a throttle lever of the fuel supply device by rotating a throttle cam pivotally supported near the fuel supply device is provided. In the outboard motor control device, the throttle cam is disposed at the rear of the fuel supply device, a throttle relay rotating member is pivotally supported below the throttle cam, and a throttle relay rotating member is provided between the throttle cam and the throttle relay rotating member. And a throttle device provided in front of the outboard motor and a throttle relay rotating member are connected by an input member, and the input member is supplied with fuel. Characterized by being arranged below the apparatus.

According to this structure, the dead space, which is the dead space, is located at the rear and lower spaces of the fuel supply device.
Since the throttle cam, the throttle relay rotating member, the interlocking member, and the input member are arranged, dead space can be effectively used, and the above members do not overlap with the fuel supply device in a side view, and the fuel supply device in a plan view. , The engine cover does not need to be greatly extended to the side, and the lateral width of the engine portion can be reduced to make the outboard motor more compact. In addition, since the interlocking member is formed in a short and straight shape and hardly bends, the operability and operability of the throttle mechanism are improved.

Further, the control device for an outboard motor according to the present invention comprises:
As described in claim 2, in the configuration of claim 1,
A shift mechanism installed in front of the engine is provided with a limiter mechanism for restricting the mutual operation between the throttle mechanism and the shift mechanism, and a limiter mechanism is provided between an input portion of the limiter mechanism and the throttle relay rotating member. They were connected by an interlocking member, and the interlocking member was disposed below the fuel supply device.

According to this configuration, although the interlocking member becomes longer, the force applied to the interlocking member is only the turning force of the throttle relay turning member, and a strong shift operation force is not applied, so that the interlocking member bends. And the operation of the limiter mechanism is ensured. Further, since the shift mechanism does not need to link the limiter mechanism, the operability of the shift mechanism is also improved. In addition, since the interlocking member disposed below the fuel supply device does not protrude to the side than the fuel supply device, the amount of the engine cover projecting to the side can be suppressed and the outboard motor can be made more compact. it can.

Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the outboard motor control device according to the third aspect, wherein the intake muffler positioned at the forefront of the fuel supply device has an avoiding shape. And at least a part of at least one of the shift mechanism and the limiter mechanism is set in the avoidance shape.

With this configuration, the installation space for the shift mechanism and the limiter mechanism is increased by an amount corresponding to the avoidance shape formed in the intake silencer, and the assembling property and disassembling workability of these mechanisms are improved. At the same time, the overall height of the engine can be reduced by bringing the intake silencer and, consequently, the entire fuel supply device closer to the shift mechanism and the limiter mechanism, thereby further contributing to downsizing of the outboard motor.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a right side view near an engine of an outboard motor showing one embodiment of the present invention,
The right side is the front (hull side) and the left side is the rear. FIG. 2 is a plan view taken along the arrow II in FIG.

The engine 2 mounted on the uppermost portion of the outboard motor 1 is, for example, an in-line three-cylinder four-stroke engine, and its crankshaft 3 (only the position is indicated by a center line in FIG. 1). It is fixed on a substantially flat engine holder 4 in an upright position so as to stand upright. An oil pan 5 is fixed to the lower surface of the engine holder 4, a drive housing (not shown) and a gear housing (not shown) are sequentially fixed below the oil pan 5, and a screw propeller is supported by the gear housing.

The engine 2 is formed by arranging a crankcase 7, a cylinder block 8, a cylinder head 9 and a head cover 10 in order from the front. The entire engine 2, the engine holder 4 and the oil pan 5 are made of synthetic resin. And is waterproof and protected. The engine cover 11 can be divided into upper and lower parts with the sealing material 12 as a boundary. The upper half of the engine cover 11 is attached and detached to perform inspection and maintenance of the engine 2.

For example, the cylinder block 8 of the engine 2
A fuel supply device 15 is installed on the right side of the cylinder block 8 together with a fuel pump 14. An exhaust device 16, an ignition device 17, an electrical component box 18 and the like are arranged on the left side of the cylinder block 8. A power generator 19 (see FIG. 2) and a recoil starter 20 (see FIG. 1) are provided above the engine 2.
The starter motor 21 is installed in front of the engine 2.

Three intake manifolds 23 extend from the right side surface of the cylinder head 9, and these intake manifolds 23 are bent forward by 90 ° and connected to a substantially flat connection flange 24. The intake manifold 23 and the connection flange 24 are formed integrally with the cylinder head 9.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the fuel supply device 15,
As shown in the plan view of FIG.
a, 25b, 25c are connected to a substantially flat connecting member 26, and an intake silencer 28 is connected to the front of each of the carburetors 25a to 25c via an intake pipe 27. An intake port 29 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) is provided on a surface of the intake silencer 28 on the engine 2 side. And the connecting member 26
Are connected to the connection flange 24 of the intake manifold 23, so that the carburetors 25a to 25c are arranged in a line on the right side of the cylinder block 8, and the intake muffler 28
Are arranged on the right side of the crankcase 7.

When the engine 2 is operating, outside air is introduced from the intake port 29 of the intake silencer 28 by the negative pressure of the intake air of the engine 2, and this air flows through the intake pipe 27 to each of the carburetors 25 a to 25 c, where fuel is removed. The mixture is mixed to form an air-fuel mixture, which is supplied to the engine 2 via the intake manifold 23. In addition, each carburetor 25a-25
c is, for example, when the engine 2 is a fuel injection type,
It may be an air amount regulator (throttle body) or the like.

The three carburetors 25a to 25c include:
Throttle shafts 31a, 31b, 31c for opening and closing a throttle valve (not shown) incorporated in each of them are pivotally supported,
The throttle levers 32a, 32b,
32c is provided integrally with the rotation. The free ends of these three throttle levers 32a to 32c are connected to a linkage link 33, and each of the throttle levers 32a to 32c is connected.
32c is linked. Each of the throttle levers 32a to 32c is always closed by a spring 34 (see FIG. 2) in a direction (FIG.
(Counterclockwise direction).

The throttle lever 32a
A throttle mechanism 36 for rotating the rotating shafts 32c is provided. This throttle mechanism 36 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, a throttle cam 37, a throttle relay rotating member 38, a throttle link 39, and two operation cables 40 and 41 are provided. The throttle link 39 and the operation cables 40 and 41 are each an “interlocking member” according to claim 1 of the claims.
And “input member”, but it is also conceivable to replace the input member with a member having another shape.

As shown in FIG. 3, the throttle cam 37 is rotatably supported by the connecting member 26 and the like by a support shaft 43, and the throttle lever 3 of the lowermost carburetor 25c is rotated.
2c, the throttle relay rotating member 38 is rotatably supported by the cylinder block 8 and the like by the support shaft 44 and is located below the throttle cam 37.

The throttle link 39 is connected to the power point 37a of the throttle cam 37 and the throttle relay turning member 38.
And the first rotating portion 38a. On the other hand, the two operation cables 40 and 41 are disposed below the fuel supply device 15 and extend in the front-rear direction. The rear ends of the two operation cables 40 and 41 are connected to the reel-shaped input portion 38 c of the throttle relay rotating member 38, and the front end is It is connected to a throttle device (not shown) provided in front of the outboard motor 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, a cam roller 45 is pivotally supported by the lowermost throttle lever 32c, and the cam roller 45 is in contact with a cam surface 37b of the throttle cam 37. When the throttle device is operated, the two operation cables 40 and 41 are connected to the throttle relay rotating member 38.
Is rotated clockwise, and the throttle relay rotating member 3 is rotated.
The rotation of 8 is transmitted to the power point 37a of the throttle cam 37 by the throttle link 39, and rotates the throttle cam 37 clockwise.

The throttle cam 37 has a cam surface 37b.
Press the cam roller 45 with the throttle lever 32c.
The movement of the throttle lever 32c is controlled by the linkage link 33 so that the other throttle levers 32a,
32b are linked, so three carburetors 25a-
25c throttle shafts 31a to 31c rotate simultaneously,
The output of the engine 2 is controlled by the synchronous opening and closing of the throttle valve.

The shape of the cam surface 37b of the throttle cam 37 is such that the interlocking rate of the throttle levers 32a to 32c is small near the beginning of opening of the throttle device, and the throttle lever 32 increases as the opening of the throttle device increases.
The interlocking ratios of a to 32c are set to be large, so that the engine speed is not excessively increased when the throttle opening is small.

The throttle mechanism 3 configured as described above
6 is provided behind the engine 2, whereas a shift mechanism 47 is provided in front of the engine 2. The shift mechanism 47 is, as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5,
A shift lever 48, a shift relay turning member 49, a shift link 50, and a shift rod 51 are provided.

The shift lever 48 is, as shown in FIG.
A front end of a steering bracket 52 located outside and forward of the engine cover 11 is pivotally supported by a support shaft 53 and is rotatable back and forth. Also, the shift relay turning member 49 is
As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the power point 49 a and the action point 49 b (see FIGS. 4 to 6) are supported by a bearing portion 54 (see FIG. 6) on the front surface of the crankcase 7 by a support shaft 55 and formed in a substantially cross shape in a side view. 4, see FIG. 6) and a limiter projection 49c. The projection 49d is a connection part of a remote control link (not shown).

The operating point 48a of the shift lever 48
The shift link 50 connects between the shift relay rotating member 49 and the power point 49a, and the upper end of the shift rod 51 (see FIGS. 4 and 6) is connected to the action point 49b of the shift relay rotating member 49. The shift rod 51 extends downward, and its lower end reaches a shift device in a gear box (not shown).

For example, when the shift lever 48 is turned forward, the shift relay turning member 49 is rotated backward, and the shift rod 51 is pushed down, so that the shift mode becomes the forward mode. When the shift lever 48 is rotated backward, the shift relay rotating member 49 is rotated forward to shift the shift rod 5.
1 is raised, and the shift mode becomes the reverse mode.
Further, when the shift lever 48 is at the neutral position shown in the drawing, the shift mode is set to the neutral mode.

The shift mechanism 47 configured as described above is provided with a limiter mechanism 58. The limiter mechanism 58 is a mechanism for restricting the mutual operation of the throttle mechanism 36 and the shift mechanism 47. As shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 5, the limiter mechanism 58 includes a limiter 59 and a limiter link 60. The limiter protrusion 49c provided on the relay rotation member 49 is also a component of the limiter mechanism 58. The limiter link 60 corresponds to the “interlocking member” described in claim 2 of the claims, but may be replaced with a member having another shape.

The limiter 59 is formed in a lever shape having a force point 59a at a lower end and a stopper 59b at an upper end, and an intermediate portion thereof is rotatably supported by a crankcase 8 or the like by a support shaft 61, and shift relay rotation It is located immediately after the member 49. The limiter link 60 is connected between the power point 59a of the limiter 59 and the second turning portion 38b of the throttle relay turning member 38.
Is the fuel supply device 1 together with the operation cables 40 and 41 described above.
5 below. In addition, the power point 5 of the limiter 59
9a is an "input unit" described in claim 2 of the claims.
Corresponds to.

For example, when the throttle device is not operated and the throttle mechanism 36 is in the state shown in FIG. 5, the stopper 59b of the limiter 59 is
Since the rotation of 9 is not hindered, the shift mechanism 47 can be freely operated to select any of forward, reverse, and neutral shift modes.

When the shift position is in the neutral mode as shown in FIG. 5, even if the throttle device is operated to increase the engine speed, the stopper 59b of the limiter 59 is moved to the limiter convex portion of the shift relay rotation member 49. 49c, and the rotation of the throttle relay rotation member 38 in the forward rotation direction is prevented, so that the throttle opening is regulated.

On the other hand, for example, when the shift position is in the forward mode, the limiter projection 49c of the shift relay rotating member 49
However, since it is located below the rotation range of the stopper 59b of the limiter 59, the rotation of the limiter 59 is not hindered. Therefore, the navigation speed can be adjusted by freely operating the throttle device.

When the throttle opening increases,
Since the stopper 59b of the limiter 59 rotates toward the shift relay rotating member 49 and enters the limiter convex portion 49c, the rotation of the shift relay rotating member 49 in the forward rotation direction is restricted, and from the forward mode. The shift operation to the neutral mode cannot be performed.

As described above, when the shift position is in the neutral mode, the throttle opening is regulated, while when the throttle opening is large, the shift operation is regulated. In addition, damage to the transmission device and the like are effectively prevented.

The limiter mechanism 58 constitutes a control unit 63 together with the throttle mechanism 36 and the shift mechanism 47.

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3,
The front lower portion of the intake silencer 28 located at the forefront of the fuel supply device 15 is provided with an avoidance shape 65 that is diagonally cut away in a side view and retreats rearward and upward. And this avoidance shape 6
5, a shift mechanism 47 and a limiter mechanism 58 are partially installed.

Note that, as shown in FIG.
The upper part 51a of the shift rod 51 is bent and formed so as to be offset, for example, to the right side with respect to the intermediate part 51b, so that a sufficient installation space is provided for an oil filter 66 and the like provided on the left side at the lower front part of the crankcase 7. Has been given.

According to the control device 63 configured as described above, the throttle cam 37 of the throttle mechanism 36 and the throttle relay circuit are provided at the rear and lower spaces of the fuel supply device 15 (carburetors 25a to 25c) which are essentially dead spaces. Since the moving member 38, the throttle link 39, and the operation cables 40 and 41 are disposed, the dead space can be effectively used, and the members 37 to 41 do not overlap the fuel supply device 15 in a side view, and are viewed in a plan view. Since it does not project to the side of the fuel supply device 15, the engine cover 1
It is not necessary to make 1 protrude greatly to the side.

Therefore, the outboard motor 1 can be made more compact by reducing the width of the engine 2. Moreover, since the throttle link 39 can be made short and straight, the throttle link 39 is hardly bent, and the operability and operability of the throttle mechanism 36 can be improved.

In the control device 63, a limiter mechanism 58 is provided on the shift mechanism 47 side, and a power point 59a of a limiter 59 constituting the limiter mechanism 58 and a second rotating portion 38b of the throttle relay rotating member 38 are provided. Are connected by the limiter link 60, the limiter link 60 becomes longer, but the force applied to the limiter link 60 is only the turning power of the throttle relay rotating member 38, and a strong shift operation force is directly applied. Therefore, the limiter link 60 does not bend and the operation of the limiter mechanism 58 is ensured.

Further, since the shift mechanism 47 does not need to interlock the limiter mechanism 58, the operability of the shift mechanism 47 is improved. Since the limiter link 60 is provided below the fuel supply device 15, the limiter link 60 does not protrude laterally with respect to the fuel supply device 15,
Also in this respect, the amount of the engine cover 11 protruding to the side can be suppressed, and the outboard motor 1 can be made compact.

On the other hand, an avoiding shape 65 that retreats rearward and upward is formed in the lower front part of the intake silencer 28, and the shift mechanism 47 and the limiter mechanism 58 are partially installed in the avoiding shape 65. The installation space for the shift mechanism 47 and the limiter mechanism 58 is increased by that amount, the assemblability and disassembly workability of the two mechanisms 47 and 58 are improved, and the overall position of the fuel supply device 15 including the intake silencer 28 is lowered. To lower the overall height of the engine 2 and further contribute to the downsizing of the outboard motor 1.

[0051]

As described above, according to the control apparatus for an outboard motor according to the present invention, the outboard motor can be made compact, the operability of the throttle, shift, and limiter mechanisms can be improved and the operation can be reliably performed. In addition, the ease of assembling the shift mechanism and the like and the ease of disassembly can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a right side view of the vicinity of an engine of an outboard motor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view as viewed in the direction of arrow II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the fuel supply device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a fuel supply device and a control device.

FIG. 5 is a right side view of the control device.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a shift mechanism and its periphery.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outboard motor 2 Engine 3 Crankshaft 7 Crankcase 11 Engine cover 15 Fuel supply device 25a, 25b, 25c Carburetor 28 Intake silencer 32a, 32b, 32c Throttle lever 36 Throttle mechanism 37 Throttle cam 38 Throttle relay rotation member 39 Interlocking Throttle links 40, 41 which are examples of members Operation cables 47 which are examples of input members 47 Shift mechanism 48 Shift lever 49 Shift relay turning member 50 Shift link 58 Limiter mechanism 59a Power point 60 which is an example of an input part of the limiter mechanism 60 Interlocking member Limiter link 63 control device 65 avoiding shape

Claims (3)

[Claims] A fuel supply device is installed on a side of a four-stroke engine mounted vertically and having a crankcase facing forward, and a throttle cam pivotally supported near the fuel supply device is rotated to supply fuel. In an outboard motor control device provided with a throttle mechanism for operating a throttle lever of a supply device, the throttle cam 37 is connected to the fuel supply device 1.
5, a throttle relay turning member 38 is supported below the throttle cam 37, and the throttle cam 3
7 and the throttle relay turning member 38 are connected by an interlocking member (39), and an input member (40) is connected between the throttle device provided in front of the outboard motor 1 and the throttle relay turning member 38. , 41), wherein the input member is disposed below the fuel supply device 15. 2. A shift mechanism 47 provided in front of the engine 2 is provided with a limiter mechanism 58 for restricting mutual operation between the throttle mechanism 36 and the shift mechanism 47, and an input section of the limiter mechanism 58. (59a) and the intermediary member (6)
2. The outboard motor control device according to claim 1, wherein the connection member is connected at 0), and the interlocking member is disposed below the fuel supply device 15. 3. An avoidance shape 65 is formed in the intake muffler 28 located at the forefront of the fuel supply device 15, and at least a part of at least one of the shift mechanism 47 and the limiter mechanism 58 is provided in the avoidance shape 65. The outboard motor control device according to claim 2, which is installed.